M.A.I.L. (Maille Artisans International League) is an international community of artisans and volunteers dedicated to the advancement of the chainmaille artform. We aim to encourage the sharing and spreading of information, archiving as many techniques and weaves as possible.

There have been countless threads about what kind of pliers do you use and what do you carry/store your rings in. I have been curious about what others carry their ?grab and go? kits in. And perhaps what?s in the kit. That is, the stuff you usually take with you when mailling around town or at school or wherever, not the (assuming) much larger kit you would take to a gathering.

My latest ?grab and go kit? generally consists of the following:

- Two pairs of Husky bent nose pliers
- Several child-guard capped prescription bottles of rings
- A small triangular ?bead tray? to put the rigs I?m using in while weaving
- My weave sampler:
...- eleven roughly inch and a half long examples of different weaves attached to a one inch diameter split ring and attached with a lanyard and carabineer so it doesn?t get lost
- Usually two or three roughly four inch long coils of whatever rings I?m using at the moment
- Sometimes I?ll lug my Wiss M5 cutters if I?m getting low on pre-cut rings
- Occationally I?ll add a small spool of wire
- and a pair of needle or round nose pliers
- And almost always I?ll have my KABAR Hobo Knife in there as well
- Oh, and whatever smallish project I happen to be working on at the time

I carry it all in an olive drab canvas bag that was originally intended for a 75-round drum magazine for an AK-47. I found it at the flea market for well under ten bucks, brand new and never issued. Sadly, I don?t have the magazine that was supposed to go in it or the Kalashnikov the magazine was supposed to go with. Besides, here in the Peoples Democratic Republic of Massachusetts they frown on that kind of thing anyway.

The case is just barely big enough to hold all of the stuff I carry and small enough to not get in the way most of the time. It?s also small enough not to tempt me to schlep around even more than I already do. And it?s rugged as hell. I?ve had several people ask me why I?m carrying around a military gas mask, but this case is smaller than that. I was originally going to use it as a ?flea bag? ? that is, to put small stuff that I pick up at the flea market in, but maille has crowded that out?

So what do you carry your stuff in?

Edit: Just had to fix the bulleted list. It's been bugging me that it didn?t past right from Word?

"Do not go where the path may lead,
go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

I carry most of my stuff in a small tool bag I bought at Harbor Freight. It's about 12" long, 10" wide, and about 10" deep. For long trips and such, I have another identical tool bag and now my backpack. I want to go to a gathering, but we simply don't have a north WEST maille fest.

Here's the list of what I usually carry in the one bag if I know I'll be out all day.

The reason I carry so many pliers is because I've developed a tendency to break the smaller ones. I've already broken and replaced (gotta love lifetime warranties) about 3 pairs of the Ace bent needle nose. With everything in it, the bag is usually difficult to zip up, but it does very well. Most of the time I just pack the bare essentials: One project, rings for that project, and two pairs of pliers.

my shirt
bracelet
14 gu 13/32 id rings in a pencil bag with my magnits inside with the rings
1 needle nose pliers
1 flat head pliers
other projects i am working on
mabye my 20 gu wire with unknown ID
coils if i have any made

Joined: January 04, 2007Posts: 118Submissions: 11Location: I refuse to tell you I am from Moorhead,.... oops...

Posted on Wed Feb 07, 2007 8:23 pm

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I use a big Plano tackle box. Its small enough to grab and go, but large enough to hold every thing I need. There are small slots for jewlery findings. Slots for small rings that I use for jewlery. There are enough for several different colors and sizes of anodized aluminum. A slot that fits 3 or 4 pairs of pliers perfectly and there is enough room in the bottom for several small boxes of larger rings ( 5/16, 3/ 8 ) Whenever I go out of town every thing I need easily fits in it.

Quote:

If someone gives you a piece of ruled paper, write the other direction

all my stuff is lose even in my book bag, i carry my pliers with me and my shirt i am wearing or it is in my bookbag, and rings are also in my book bag, dose anyone know of a good but cheep chainmail thing i can use, beside making one

dose anyone know of a good but cheep chainmail thing i can use, beside making one

I'm not sure what you mean. What's a "chainmail thing"? Do you mean something to carry your stuff in?

A few years ago I used a cheapy leather backpack with lots of pockets, but now I use the tool bags. I've seen several things used as maille carriers: Tackle boxes, ammo boxes, tool boxes, duffel bags, backpacks, pockets... I think it seems to depend on what exactly you enjoy making. If it's jewelry, a tackle box or jewelry box type thing seems to be really good. If it's armor or other large items, larger containers such as big ammo boxes or backpacks are usually good.

Generally everything I carry is lugged around in one of my two toolboxes. But if I'm heading somewhere where such a thing is going to get more than the usual stares, or I just can't carry it I use a small post box. Large enough to carry tins of three rings sizes, two pairs of needlenose pliers, the project I'm working on and one or two finished pieces in case I'm questioned about them more than normal. Works really well, as it slots into my backpack, or between the front seats in one of the cars I drive or in the console of my car. But generally, being a jeweller, the toolbox goes from my workroom to the boot of the car, from there into class and back. Everything is in there from my saw, to my shears and wire stocks as well as my mandrels.

Joined: January 04, 2007Posts: 118Submissions: 11Location: I refuse to tell you I am from Moorhead,.... oops...

Posted on Wed Feb 07, 2007 11:50 pm

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A coffee tin works good if you only need to carry one size of rings at a time. They fit rings and two pairs of needle nose quite nicely. Thats what I usually carry at school depending on what project I am working on. Small ones are easier to carry than the big ones.

Quote:

If someone gives you a piece of ruled paper, write the other direction.

Joined: January 04, 2007Posts: 118Submissions: 11Location: I refuse to tell you I am from Moorhead,.... oops...

Posted on Thu Feb 08, 2007 12:00 am

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Unless you use a zip lock bag ( which you'll still probably need to carry in a backpack) I dont think you'll find anything better than a backpack. Altoids tins also work, but are small and therefor don't hold very many rings and dont hold any pliers so a backpack is still nice to have.
Fannypacks anyone!!!

- Small spool of 19ga. stainless steel
- Two coils of 19ga. stainless from my 3/16? mandrel
- My sampler and its lanyard
- A bit of E4-1 that will eventually become a ?vampire choker?
- My KA-BAR Hobo Kit (fork, knife, spoon and case)
- The triangular bead tray I use to contain the rings I?m working with
- Four tubes with caps. Three contain rings, the fourth has spare batteries for my Streamlight TL-2 LED flashlight
- Two pairs of Husky bent nose pliers
- Wiss M5 cutters

A fanny pack would also work well. I?ve used everything from a large L.L. Bean tote bag (that still hasn?t been fully unpacked from NEMF2K6), to a wooden sewing kit (that?s still in the tote), to one of my fanny packs, to this AK-47 drum magazine pouch. What works best tends to depend on where you are going, what you are working on and what you feel like carrying that day. There really is no one best answer. That?s one reason I was wondering what others are using.

So where do I find a 'smiley' with steam coming out of his ears? For some reason I just can?t get the img code tool to load these pix. Grrr!

Edit: Just had to fix the bulleted list. It was bugging me that it didn?t past right from Word (again)

"Do not go where the path may lead,
go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

I carry all of my stuff, either in my little jewelry holding pouch, or in my ring case, which is just a five-sided plastic thing thats hollow in the center, has five holder on the outside, seperated into five bin type things...hard to explain...

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